SCoM Holiday to Tignes, March 2022

Reporter: Tom Russell

Hmmmmm, where to begin? Well, I’ll start with the Taxi drawing up at 05:15 in the morning to take me on my first skiing holiday for over two years. Excited? Yes, I was, and nervous, in case I’d forgotten how to do it.

Andrew, my friend and room mate, was already in the car, so there was the normal banter on the short trip, but this turned to dismay after we entered the departure hall and saw the mass of people waiting to book in; the queue labyrinth filled the hall and extended 150m into a transfer tunnel. Our buffer of 3 hours began to feel not a moment too long, and so it proved! At 08:25 I had still not cleared security checks and had to queue jump to get an official to deal with my stranded rucksack before running to catch the 8:30 flight. Fortunately, I heard my name being shouted and stopped; the flight was delayed and we had time for a coffee.

The rest of the journey was pleasantly normal and it was nice to chat to friends I’d not seen face to face for two years. Immigration in Chambery went very smoothly, despite more labyrinths, and even the inevitable traffic queues en route to Tignes didn’t seem too bad.

Our hotel was one we’d stayed in a few years ago, and it was obvious that it’d been refreshed since then. Initial thoughts were that it looked ok, but the room was a little tight on space for two six foot plus guys, even though we’re friends. Storage space was also at a premium and wasn’t improved when we managed to prise the twin beds apart, but my ski case fitted in the gap nicely. Decoding the operation of the light switches was something we never fully figured out, and it wasn’t until halfway through the week that we found out how to turn on the main central light, although the bedside reading lights were good and bright. The boot room was compact but well organised and I never had any problem finding space for my kit.

It was a surprise to learn there were four dinner sittings, which had to be pre-booked, but the dining room was airy, with a bar and a pleasant sitting room adjacent heated by a (faux) log fire.

Sunday morning dawned reasonably bright with the snow looking inviting and breakfast in prospect. Once you sorted out where all the bits were located it wasn’t too difficult to assemble breakfast and find a group to sit with. After kitting up and striving to remember what to wear for skiing, the walk down to the lifts was relatively short, so the main event could begin, yay!

My initial skiing efforts were rather wobbly, but I soon felt more at home, and in the sunshine my confidence began to return, I was enjoying myself again. After lunch however, the clouds gathered and the light degraded, making me very tentative on some of the pistes and not really enjoying it any more. During the following days the weather and the brightness were variable (as usual) and we had some light snow one day which made a small difference, but in general the pistes were icy in the morning and turning soft and slightly slushy in the afternoon, par for the course in a late season holiday. Nevertheless, Friday was a humdinger of a day, one of the best I’ve ever had.

For me, the biggest disappointment of the holiday was the food served at the evening meal. Skiing uses a lot of energy, and what I was given didn’t go anywhere near replacing what I’d burnt during the day. My normal on piste lunch is Goulash soup with a roll, and I rely on a good evening meal to fuel me for the next day, but these dinners didn’t get anywhere near providing enough. The worst meal we had was the notorious vegetable lasagne, and, out of eight people on our table, only one managed to eat it all (well done Steve!). I was hungry, yet I still left half of mine!

Then, of course, there was the inevitable spectre of Covid-19 hovering over our holiday. As the week progressed we began to hear of SCoM members being forced to isolate, casting a small cloud over the week. After the end of the holiday there were several members reporting infections (me included) on the What’s App group.

Speaking of which, the innovation of a What’s App group for the holiday proved popular and useful, and has allowed members to coordinate claims for the delayed flight back. The problems at Manchester Airport (not just for our flights) were apparently featured during a BBC News NW Tonight report during the week, with airline pilots and staff commenting that Manchester has a reputation as the worst airport in the country, an opinion probably most of us would endorse. Similarly, TUI have not shone with their travel organisation.

Nevertheless, speaking personally, I’ve really enjoyed the holiday and am looking forward to the next one, but hope the tour operator and airport have learned from the mistakes made on this one.